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I’ve always wanted to order from Gmarket, and this month I finally bit the bullet. And no, I’m not referring to the Singaporean Gmarket which got rebranded to Qoo10 (even though it’s been like 3-4 years since the rebranding happened, my mother still refers to Qoo10 as Gmarket) – I’m talking about the one that ships directly from Korea! This is where I can find tons of products and brands I wouldn’t typically be able to find in Singapore – Espoir, Verite, and whatnot at amazing prices.

Let’s start with Gmarket itself – can I just rave about how amazing their service is?? Seriously – I don’t even get my packages from Qoo10 (domestic delivery) this quickly. Let me just show you my timeline:

HAS ANYONE RECEIVED PACKAGES THIS QUICKLY BEFORE??? IN 5 DAYS??? NO!!!! Ok maybe I’m exaggerating, but seriously. I’ve never received service /this/ fast from Qoo10, TK or RRS before – as much as I still love them, Gmarket wins, hands down, in terms of delivery time. Judging from my previous experiences from Korean international shipping, I honestly expected this package to be delivered in May. Instead, I’m sitting here writing this post in May (terribly late, but I wanted to get a good sense of all my products before I included first impressions for all the products).

Moving on… This is the giant box my haul came in! It really surprised me – that’s my phone, a Note 3 mind you, sitting on top of the box. I had no idea why the box was so huge – did I really order so many things?? The memo noted that it was only 3.3kg!

…And I figured out why once I tore open opened up the box. HAHAHAHA it turns out the Gmarket warehouse had literally just dumped in all the boxes they’d received – I guess the guy sorting my packages just decided to throw everything into the biggest (???) box he could find??? It was a hilarious sight opening this up though! However, one negative point here: AK-Plaza didn’t exactly package my VDL Eyeshadow palette very well in the small box, so it could have been flung around in the small box in the big box. Shame on you tsk if it’s an eyeshadow palette IT NEEDS BUBBLE WRAP! (this is extremely reminiscent of the Lorac Mega Pro Amazon shipping issue.)

I ordered my products from individual sellers, which meant that I was unlikely to get any samples at all – ordering 1 item from a seller will sadly not warrant samples. I may attempt to include ‘please include samples!’ in English and Korean the next time I order! I received a sheet mask + OHUI foil sample from one seller (can’t quite remember which), and a small set of samples from VDL…. And if you scroll to the top and bottom, a giant pink Pantone VDL shopping bag!!!!!!! 😀 I guess the general lack of samples was wholly made up by the Pantone x VDL bag ❤ ❤ ❤

Hera CC Cream City Defense (SPF35 / PA++)

Retail: 45,000KRW / ~SGD$50
Gmarket: SGD$40

While watching Meejmuse’s channel, she mentioned that her one CC Cream favourite was the Hera CC Cream! The original price was preeeetty high, so I didn’t manage to get one from TesterKorea the previous round – instead I got a small 10ml sample tube off Carousell. I would liken this CC Cream to the IOPE one, as it’s not a whitening base like the Laneige and Banila Co.

As I was scouring Gmarket, I noticed that Hera came up with a new and improved! version of the cc cream in 2015, with ‘City Defense‘ properties. One of the biggest trends I’ve noticed recently is ‘city defense’ products, with brands like Clarins coming up with Sunscreen products, and Etude House with Dust Cut products. These protecting properties typically leave a film on your face to protect against dust and pollutants we face every day in cities, and considering I live in Singapore… yes. Either way, the packaging is gooooorgeous! Maybe not as sleek as the original Black/Silver packaging, but this silvery packaging represents City Defense so well.

First impression: ★★★★☆

Luna Water Essence Founpact (SPF35 / PA++)

Retail: ~SGD$40
Gmarket: SGD$27

I was actually most excited to try this product out of aaaallll the products I ordered. This was featured on Get It Beauty a while back, and supposedly it has a mega high water content! However… The first time I used this wasn’t very successful or anything 😦 It kind of sat on top of my skin like a film, and was pilling up on the surface. I will try this again with another foundation brush… Hopefully it’ll produce better results 😦

Edit: So I tried it with my beloved Shiseido 131, and while it did give me a very airbrushed, perfect finish, it’s really not the look that I’m going for. It still clung like a thick layer on my skin, unlike the CC Creams I’m so very used to – I just don’t think heavy coverage foundations are suitable for me 😦

First impression: ★★★☆☆

eSpoir Face Slip Nude Cushion (SPF 50+ / PA+++)

Retail: 35,000KRW / ~SGD$44
Gmarket: ~SGD$26

I have too many cushions!! I first saw this cushion on a Singaporean YouTube channel, which is linked here – Shu An mentioned in the video that when they asked the air stewardesses how their skin looked so glowy and dewy, they pointed it out in the in-flight shopping magazine and were like, ‘eSpoir!’ I like how it supposedly gives a really light, natural finish, which is what I typically go for. Slowly, slowly – I’ll open this soon!

Note: This is also made by Amore Pacific.

First impression: ★★★★☆

Verite UV Multi Cushion DX (SPF 50 / PA+++)

Retail: ~SGD$55
Gmarket: ~SGD$34.50

Actually… This cushion just represents me being greedy :p Once the rose gold/copper sides caught my eye, I was like YES. I NEED THIS. Same as the eSpoir – I’ll review this in due time.

Note: This is aaaaalso made by Amore Pacific. In fact, this technically even has Amore Pacific prepended to its name!

First impression: ★★★★☆

VDL Expert Colour Lip Cube (Guylian)

Retail: SGD38
Gmarket: SGD$20

:’) This marbled chocolate (Guylian!) design was calling out to me, telling me ‘pick me! pick me!’ …so I did. I picked 3 of this (for me, my mum, and my aunt!). This is a great choice for me, as it’s really moisturizing, with a sheer pop of colour. The special cube shape of the lipstick allows for better application around cupid’s bow 🙂

First impression:

VDL Beauty Metal Cushion Foundation EX (Candy Bar) (SPF 50 / PA+++)

Retail: 32,000KRW / SGD$40
Gmarket: 21,000KRW / SGD $26

You may have already seen this in my April Favourites post, but to be honest, I was a bit irked by the metal design initially – however, after seeing how versatile the metal surface is on Get It Beauty, it’s been my favourite foundation since I started using it (with my Shiseido 131 Foundation brush)! It wears decently in humid weather (can’t help it…), with minimal touchup required – I’m pretty darn satisfied with that 🙂

First impression:

VDL Expert Colour Eye Book 6.4 (Pink)

Retail: 48,000KRW / SGD$60
Gmarket: ~31,000KRW / SGD$40

This needs no words. Pantone x VDL = life

aghhhh that pastel pink

First impression:

Mise en Scene Hello Bubble Foam Hair Color

7N Mocha Latte Brown, 7P Vintage Rose Pink

Retail: ~15,000KRW / ~SGD$20
Gmarket: 2 f0r 12,900KRW / 1 for SGD$8

I’ve been looking to dye my hair for a while now, but I decided against it (last minute :() at the salon, as I wasn’t sure if my internship would allow my dyed hair. My friends have been recommending bubble foam hair dyes, so when I came across this on GMarket I was like yup this is it – Mise en Scene is one of the top haircare brands in Korea at the moment, and no surprise here – it’s owned by Amore Pacific as well. If I’m not wrong, scouring the shelves of Watsons only yielded pretty basic hair dyes like from Revlon and whatnot, which cost around $20 per pack – so I’m hoping that this is much better!

First impression: ★★★★☆

Son & Park Skin Fit Foundation (SPF45 / PA++)

Son & Park are the two makeup artists who frequently appear on Get It Beauty, so in my eyes they’re fairly famous and trustworthy makeup artists. They are well-known for being the makeup artists who create the hottest trends in Korea – one of them was Cheon Song-Yi’s makeup artist on My Love From The Star! When they came up with their own makeup brand and I spotted it on Qoo10, I was all up for trying it out.

What’s so special about this foundation stick is that: 1. Green primer base in the middle of the stick, which helps to neutralize redness, and 2. The micro-brush on the other end of the stick to help blend out the foundation! Typically, I don’t go for heavy coverage, but I think this stick is a great option for me to venture into that world 🙂

First impression: ★★★★☆

Mise en Scene Perfect Repair Hair Serum

Mise en Scene yet again 😀 Actually, I purchased this serum (set of 2!) off Qoo10 before I made my GMarket haul. I do suffer from extremely wiry hair – it’s just poofy and messy, and gets oily easily in this humid weather. A while back, my hairstylist suggested I start using hair serums and oils more frequently. I don’t like handling oils – no matter how much I wash my hands, there’s still an icky sensation left, but when I tried this oil-based serum for the first time… whoa. My hair was glossy, and my hands were happy! (Sometimes, when I really don’t feel like dirtying my hands, I drip the serum on a wide-toothed comb and run it through my hair. Works just fine for me!)

First impression: ★★★★☆

GMarket has quite a bunch of coupons available, including Paypal, Visa, and new member coupons – they can all be found on the homepage of GMarket Global. These will definitely help to offset the expensive fees for EMS – my shipping actually came close to $20-25 :O

I know that quite a number of these products can’t really be found on RoseRoseShop, or TesterKorea, the typical shopping sites… Given the low-low-low Korean prices, easy-to-use platform, and lightning-fast service, I’d definitely recommend anyone to try out GMarket. Lots of Singaporeans have reviewed GMarket online, and the typically haul breakdown includes cosmetics and clothing!

On a similar note, maybe I’ll try out KoreaDepart in a few months – it has a base rate of USD$5 for shipping to Singapore! I hope this post helps enlighten anyone who wants to order from Gmarket 🙂

Exciting times! I’ve decided to do a collective haul post instead, covering what I’ve purchased and received in January, February, and March. Also, it’s my birthday today, so I’ve got quite a few things in the past few weeks 🙂

January: TesterKorea

Okay, this is the earliest haul of all – I purchased these in late January and only received them in February! There was an issue with the sourcing of the Laneige Cushion – I originally ordered the PushButton LE cushion (super super cute. doggy spots all over the case), but they were out – so they replaced it with the Anti-Aging version instead. *shrugs* Early anti-aging for me then! I’ve always loved TK’s customer service – they’re really friendly, and reply super quickly 🙂 (80% of my big hauls are made at TK!)

Anyway, this is my first ever ~expensive~ TesterKorea haul!!! Previously I’d been purchasing small items, averaging out at 6,000KRW per item – but this time round I went big and got a few small, expensive purchases haha. The Banila Co. Clean It Zero, and the TonyMoly Rabbit Bars aren’t mine though! TK was especially generous with samples this time around (considering the delay in sending the package out even with EMS!).

I ordered a bunch of Laneige, IOPE, and Clio items! After using my mum’s MAC pot concealer, I thought I should get one for myself too – so I picked the Clio Kill Cover concealer (it’s a little dark on me though.), but it’s a good deal for $14. I’ve found that this is fairly high coverage, which is great for those stubborn blemishes my Shiseido concealer can’t hide.

…As well as the CC Creams ($33 and $28 respectively, vs $45-60 RRP). At present, I’m more into CC Creams – so you’ll see a review of all my CC Creams soon! I have yet to open the BB Cushions, so that review will come in say, June.

TesterKorea /had/ the most amazing discounts (with 30% off everything), but they’ve recently reduced their discounted selection heh. Either way, if I’d purchased these products from local stores, it’s likely that I would’ve spent twice as much :O

Since I’ll be leaving my my teens soon, I thought that it might be a good time to start getting lipsticks… so I got a beautiful IOPE Color Fit Lipstick ($25, RRP $34) after much time spent deciding what colour to get. I chose an IOPE lipstick because a few shades went absolutely famous after Cheon Song Yi wore them in My Love From The Stars… BUT I made a mistake 😦 I got #29 Metallic Rose, and while it does look very pretty, it’s metallic. It’s got glitter in it. I like matte lip colours, so I’ll be selling this away too…

February: Tom Ford

I’ve also received some fantabulous samples from Tangs – between my mum and I!

Mum and I received one Tom Ford miniature Lip Color each – I chose Indian Rose, and she chose True Coral. These are way too beautiful to use…….. I’ve just taken them out occasionally to ogle (please don’t judge me omg)

March: Etude House

Yiyi kindly gifted me some Etude House products! I’ve not tried many of their products, so this is the time for me to see how effective their products are.

Precious Mineral BB Compact Bright Fit SPF30 PA+++ – N01

Just look at the packaging :’) so girly and princessy! The puff is mega soft as compared to the MAC puff, and there’s the Etude House logo embossed into the powder. I’ve heard that this BB Compact is not bad, so I’m definitely keeping this in my bag – imagine how cute it’d be to whip this out of my makeup pouch :>

Look At My Eyes Cafe – PK005

SUCH a cute colour – I love how this is a basic shade that I can cover my entire lid with 🙂 Plus, this can double up as a cutsey blush colour in a pinch!

Pure Water Baobab Moist Cream

This is a highly moisturizing cream that daily absorbs Baobab’s pure moisture into skin for a clear and moist complexion, containing sufficiently moist Baobab Water and skin purifying Moringa seed extract. Like a burst of water drop, its light watery texture absorbs smoothly into skin with abundant moisture.

I saw this in-store with yiyi, and mentioned how cool Baobab trees are 😀 She definitely remembered it, and she got it for me because of that, and because…. of how much it looks like a baby food jar HAHAHA.

Of all the things I got here, I was most excited about this Laneige Multiberry Yogurt Pack :> It smells absolutely divine – and no surprise here! The label says ‘DO NOT EAT’. This is probably going to be my second option for a night cream (instead of my Ettusais Premium Amino Caviar Cream) – I think I have an affinity for pink creams.

And to be honest, these 4 were the main reasons why I got the Shiseido samples. L-R: Shiseido Ibuki serum, Lacquer Rouge, Perfect Rouge, and the Natural Finish Cream Concealer – the main reason! This is kinda my HG concealer – the one I’ve been using for >5 years haha. (Honestly, I think I’m going to sell away the Ibuki skincare kit :<)

March: Qoo10 – Wishtrend & 9Wishes

I purchased the C20 Vitamin C serumfrom Wishtrend (via Qoo10) for my mum at SGD$12.99 (which is an amazing price by the way!!!), as I don’t think it’s very suitable for my skin – and Wishtrend was super generous by including a Klairs sheet mask, and a COSRX sample! Definitely surprising that Wishtrend treats Qoo10 customers similarly to their original site customers. I’ve been extremely excited to try Klairs and COSRX after finishing my current routine of products, so this is definitely a possibility, purchasing again from Wishtrend. (C’mon, they even threw in a 10% coupon – what’s there not to love about Wishtrend?)

I also purchased the 9Wishes Vanishing Balm, because I saw preeeetty good reviews of it on Qoo10! This is my ???th CC Cream – and I have a love affair with CC Creams. You’ll see a comparison and swatches of this soon, in my upcoming post: Battle of the CC Creams! I got this for $19.90 for 50ml, which is definitely comparable (or just cheaper!) to the other CC Creams I’ve purchased so far.

Fun fun times 🙂 Gonna start work soon, so this is likely my last collective haul over the next 3 months! (More than enough new products for me to try (i.e. ogle) anyway woohoo)

Products opened up! I actually purchased 4 more boxes of the usual MBD masks for friends but… that was before I remembered to take a picture. Also LoveMore masks for my mum.

1. Sheet Masks

Sheet masks have their own post because of how special these masks are there! I purchased them from a few brands: 1. L’Herboflore, 2. My Beauty Diary, 3. Lovemore, 4. FaceQ, 5. SexyLook. I forgot to include the Lovemore masks in the haul pic!

This was purchased on sale from Bonjour HK, for 98HKD – which is about $17SGD, versus 22,000krw (~$28SGD). It was actually the cheapest I could find around Mongkok – I visited at least 5 of each (Bonjour, Colormix, and Sasa) and I found that Bonjour had the best prices more or less!

1. This handy pump dispenser provides for more hygienic access to the CC cream

2. What the CC cream looks like, unblended

3. What the CC cream looks like half blended

4. Left side has no CC cream, right side has blended CC cream.
Do note that my hand is slightly tanner than my face!

First impression: ★★★★★ +++ HG LEVEL!!!!!

It’s no wonder that the Banila Co CC Cream came out as one of the top contenders on Get It Beauty – it certainly is moisturizing, provides basic sun protection, and brightens your face. Definitely dedicating a review post to this (and other CC creams) soon!

Banila Co: Prime Primer

The Classic and Hydrating primers were 96 and 104 HKD (~SGD$17) respectively. One is for my mother, one is for me – she hasn’t decided which one she likes more. The former is very much like a standard silicone primer – translucent, pore-covering, while the latter is more like an emulsion.

After trying on both products over the past couple of weeks, I’d say that for someone who doesn’t like the feeling of heavy products on her face, I prefer using the Classic one over my pore-y zone (nose, inner cheeks) only, due to its heavy silicone content. On the other hand, the hydrating one can easily be spread all over my face without any icky feeling, and holds my makeup in place throughout long days.

Note: These are quite heavily scented, as compared to the CC cream. While the initial application annoys my nose for a while, the scent eventually fades, which is fine if you ask me.

First impression: ★★★★☆

Bite Beauty: Mix N’ Mingle Lip Minis (Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo)

Not exactly a part of my trip, but Judith got this for me in Sephora USA 🙂 It’s a beautiful Fig/Date combo, albeit really tiny.

3. Skincare

These were purchased in Taipei and Hong Kong respectively. The latter was around $8SGD in Bonjour HK, while it retails for ~$15.70 in Watsons Singapore.

DHC Eyelash Tonic

To be honest, these were just backup purchases for me! I noticed that 3 months of religious usage left me with 50% of the tonic – so this should be one year’s supply. Prices varied from 310 – 379NT (~$15SGD), while my previous purchase from TesterKorea was about 14,000krw (~$20SGD) – and it retails for $27.50 in Watsons Singapore.

This is a HG product for me, and will be reviewed in due time 🙂

4. Samples

Laneige: Perfect Renew Trial Kit

This gift set was purchased for my grandma, so I’m not too sure how it actually is! However, she said it wasn’t quite suitable for her sensitive skin – so I would recommend AGAINST it for people with sensitive skin.

Banila Co: The Best Collection

Perfect for me to try everything out! I love this entire set – the deluxe-sample-sized products are great for me to bring along in my makeup pouch, especially considering how much I love the CC Cream. This set came with an extra gift, the Lip Therapy Lip Treatment Stick. Surprisingly, I love it – it moisturizes my lips like butter, and it tastes yummy!

Edit: I ended up dumping all the pictures in this post!

P.S. I just tried pairing my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion with my Clio Kill Black Brush Liner.
O M G why have I never done this before!!! Previously I’d always have issues with smearing eyeliner due to my oily lids, and I just felt this twinge of disappointment about how my eyeliner wasn’t /pitch/ black – but now, with my HG duo, I have the smoothest, blackest, most long-lasting eyeliner :’)

Lifestyle | Beauty | Food

I'm Allison, and I run milliefeuille, a Singapore beauty and lifestyle blog. I love reviewing the latest and most effective Asian (and the occasional Western) skincare and beauty products, so follow me on my quest to get the best skin possible! :)